Simple magazine photo can spark creative idea

“Where do you get your ideas from?” “I’m not creative, how can I be more creative?” “I want to do some of this stuff, but I have no imagination.”

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard versions of the above, so I would like to share some thoughts on “being creative.”

First of all, we are all creative. Unfortunately, unless we show rather strong artistic talent early in life, it may not be something that is nurtured and encouraged in the same way, that say, math is.

So, what can you do to tap that dormant spark and get going?

You can never get enough mental fodder. Read books and look at magazines. A great garden photo may spark some neuron that makes the improbable connection to a new curtain creation.

I particularly like to go through foreign magazines, especially Italian and French ones. The European perspective on design and decorating is different than the American one, and the very fact that I cannot read the text makes me really “see” the pictures.

Whether you're looking for handmade paper, furniture, fabric or accessories, you will find it at loose ends. If it is unusual, organic and fabulous, then loose ends is the place. Showroom hours are 8 am to 5 pm weekdays and the first Saturday of each month 10 am - 3pm at 2065 Madrona Ave. SE, Salem, or visit us online at www.looseends.com Questions? Give us a call at (503) 390-2348.

Before I was old enough to read, I was a huge fan of comic books. I would look at the pictures and make up my own dialogue and story to fit in the balloons over the character’s heads. Although learning to read opened up a whole wonderful world, I still remember being somewhat disappointed at how much richer my imagination had been than the short and to-the-point dialogue of the actual content. Looking at foreign magazines is like that. Your imagination will fill in the blanks.

Also, go to the movies and study the scenery and the sets instead of the plot. Watch, look and observe everything. This is an incredibly enlightening experience when you first start to make a conscious effort to observe things.

Lots of people like to work with music in the background. Experiment with this and see what different types of music do for you. If I really need to let my imagination go and come up with some new concepts, then silence is my best ally. However, once I am in the swing of the actual creating, then music is great. For rote work (you’ve finally figured out how you are going to cover the entrance hall with handmade paper “tiles,” and now it is just repetition work), then old movies are my distraction of choice. You can follow the plot without ever having to look away from your work.

Another trick that works well for me is my early morning shower. I don’t know what it is about the shower, but I find it to be one of my best places for the germination of new ideas. Hot water pummels me, and I tend to zone out, then suddenly “poof” a new idea or concept. I find that these thoughts, like those that occur to me in the middle of the night, have a fleeting life, and you need to record them quickly before something new supplants them.

Sandi Reinke is an author, frequent television guest and lead designer for loose ends (www.loosends.com), a Salem-based interior décor, garden, and casual lifestyle company. To ask Reinke a decorating question, e-mail info@looseends.com or mail her at the showroom address, 2065 Madrona Ave. SE, Salem, OR 97302. Phone: 503-390-2348.

You also might consider giving yourself eye candy. I am personally very big on keeping lots of visually stimulating stuff around me. I may tack a magazine ad up on the wall for a time just because the way the photographer put the shot together was so unique. Right now as I look around me, I can see a bonsai plant, an antique kimono, a mannequin leg jutting out of the wall as a hook, a plastic goose, a gourd painted to look like a rat, an old ship’s lantern, a flamingo mask, a wonderful twisted tree branch and a well-bleached bovine skull picked up on a recent desert outing.

I consider this stuff food for the imagination and cannot imagine how people can do creative work in clean, well-organized and tidy spaces.

Maybe the best piece of advice I can give you is to stop telling yourself you’re not creative. That kind of internal talk is self-fulfilling.

Everybody is creative, and the very fact that you like and want to do creative things means you probably have more of that spark and ability in you than most. Don’t be afraid of making “mistakes.” The only mistake is not giving it a try. October 8 , 2004